Unleash Your Potential: Show your 'good stuff' upfront

What's the difference between a respectable resume and a truly inspiring one?

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By Lenny Keitel

recordonline.com

By Lenny Keitel

Posted Dec. 24, 2012 at 2:00 AM

By Lenny Keitel

Posted Dec. 24, 2012 at 2:00 AM

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What's the difference between a respectable resume and a truly inspiring one?

A killer resume is more than a list of your experiences. It's a synopsis that encompasses who you are and why you're a superior candidate for a particular job. A resume must be convincing enough to attract attention, generate enthusiasm and motivate a prospective employer to contact you for an interview. At the risk of being somewhat repetitive, these pointers should prove enlightening and well worth repeating:

A profile is a paragraph near the top of the first page that incorporates the attributes, characteristics and skills you bring to a prospective employer. It is your compelling personal sales pitch, highlighting why you should be given serious consideration for the position. Oftentimes, I use the words "proven professional" to underscore a client's relevant work history along with sample statements as proof of their abilities.

Past performance is an excellent indicator of future behavior. If you've demonstrated your worth in the past, it's a reasonable expectation that you will continue to do so. Needless to say, refrain from posting the self-deprecating title "Job Objective" in lieu of a profile. It's useless.

In an ideal world, a real recruiter with ample time on his hands may actually peruse your resume. Unfortunately, this rarely happens. I've screened countless resumes, and am never surprised by how many I nearly toss, only to encounter something truly interesting deep in the content.

Although you're listing work experience in reverse chronological order, if you've held several positions within a company, be flexible and highlight the most compelling accomplishments first. If the first page doesn't capture a reader's interest, forget about crafting a second page.

Education and experience are important qualifiers, but employers are interested in results. Accomplishment statements describe a problem, action taken and the result. Convey and quantify the achievements you brought to your past employers, such as infrastructure enhancements, sales quota attainment and vital projects that contained costs and streamlined operations.

In this way, you illustrate why and how you intend to bring comparable results to a new organization. Metrics turn average-looking experiences into impressive head-turners and help distinguish you from other candidates.

A resume should be visually appealing and easy on the eyes. It's not necessary to list an equal number of bullets for each employment position. You're highlighting key talking points, not rewriting "War and Peace."

Many candidates feel compelled to list every job they've held since graduating from high school or college. Get over it. If a job is old and not relevant, remove it. An employer is focused on what you've achieved in the past five to 10 years, not who employed you in 1985.

A cluttered resume is challenging to decipher and a turn-off for the reader. The harder your resume is to read, the more likely it will be passed over.

Lenny Keitel runs Hudson Valley Resumes (hudsonvalleyresumes.com), a resume writing service in Monroe. He can be reached at info@hudsonvalleyresumes.com, 782-6714 or 914-391-5300.